By Sunny Ikhioya
No empire lasts forever. With what is happening now all over the world, it is clear that man has not learned his lessons. Russia is trying to reclaim its former stake in Ukraine, but is finding it very difficult to do so. This has now caused a bitter rivalry between Russia and the rest of Europe, backed by the United States of America.
The rivalry amongst European powers led to the Berlin Conference in 1885, which approved the partitioning of Africa with arbitrary borders that have existed until today. We are not teaching history in our schools today so that corollary assumptions cannot be linked with what is happening in West Africa; but that is the real issue. It is a race for control and dominance over Africa and its resources all over again.
You may want to ask: “Why?” The freedom or
independence of Africa is to the economic detriment of Europe and the
superpower nations; so they will do everything to maintain the status quo; and
that is exactly what they are doing. Since no empire lasts forever, some of
these African leaders are beginning to find out the truth about our true
situation; they know that Africa is being manipulated through different means
of remote control by the World Bank, IMF, and other institutions created by
these superpowers to offer aid to Africa.
You may want to ask: why is
Nigeria building a gas pipeline to Europe, while in Nigeria we have not been
able to distribute gas to major cities and towns in the country for our own
use? It is all part of the game; the interests and survival of the developed
nations are more important; the rest of the world can go to hell. That is why people
are warning ECOWAS, including Nigeria and other countries in Africa to exercise
caution in their approach to the Nigerien coup; the whole thing must be looked
at from a holistic perspective.
Why, for example, will the US and France not put their soldiers on the ground to achieve their exploitative goals in Niger Republic? Definitely, the two superpowers have the resources to bring their military might to bear on Niger one way or another; why are they using Nigeria and ECOWAS? Because it has always been their strategy from time, using fellow black Africans to undermine their fellow brothers so that it will look clean to the world, whereas the masterminds and planners are in faraway lands.
It is a thing that is becoming a regular subject of study among educated
and enlightened African groups and subgroups. How the Western world has
succeeded in brainwashing us, to make us look like dense people, without any
imagination or reasoning of our own. Making us feel that, without them, the
people of Africa will not be able to survive on their own, and this is very
fallacious reasoning. We must ask the question: why is Africa producing the raw
materials but cannot process them into finished products?
Why Nigeria will embark on giant
steel construction projects like the Ajaokuta and Delta plants and after many
years could not get these factories to produce? Why could all the refineries
located in different parts of Nigeria not produce a single drop of fuel for a
whole year? It is because we have tied our survival to foreign expertise that
we have refused to try out our true professionals, who serve as Consultants in
different fields of endeavours all over the world; but in Nigeria, their
talents would not be trusted to perform.
The leadership has been enticed
through means like bribery and subtle blackmail, to do the bidding of the
superpowers, and that is why we are where we are today. The Niger situation
would not have resulted in such complexities if the African leaders had not
compromised themselves now and in the past. Look at them—Cote d’ Ivoire,
Togo, Cameroun and others—what morals do they have to teach the others about
democracy? Nigerians are suffering and making sacrifices; it would be nice to see
these sufferings generate shared prosperity in the near future.
The Jews are arguably the most
ingenious race in the world today, but this ingenuity is grounded in their
determination to survive all the hardships and obstacles that the world has
thrown at them. Today, nobody can make fun of any Jew anymore because you know
what they are capable of doing. Our leaders must think and avoid parochial
decisions, not put their interests above others. The goal should be shared
sacrifices and shared prosperity. In this light, President Bola Tinubu and his
team should begin to think of how they will disengage themselves from the Niger
crisis without bringing disgrace to Nigeria.
Already, the border closure has
caused losses to the tune of billions of naira to businesses, and we do not
know how long this can be sustained. Our survival and prosperity should be the
cornerstones of our foreign policy, and the sovereignty of nations must be
maintained. The sovereignty of Niger must depend on the Nigeriens and not on any
foreign nation; let the Nigeriens sort out their own problems. We had in the
past embarked on military interventions like ECOMOG and others, helping to
stabilise Africa; but what did Nigeria gain from it? We gained nothing but
rejection, hatred, and insults to Nigeria and its citizens. We must not go
through that route again.
By the way, do we have the resources to prosecute an international war presently? Are we going to depend on the superpowers, like the US and France, to supply the enablements? The Nigerian government must properly weigh the options and the attendant consequences before diving headlong into the crisis because we may be unwittingly promoting the interests of neo-colonialists, just as our forefathers sold their fellow brothers as slaves in the past.
It is clear that
the Nordstream gas pipeline project to Germany has been sabotaged, and the
European Union, or EU, is looking for an alternative through the trans-Saharan
pipeline that will link Nigeria to Morocco and Europe. With the current
happenings, if all parties do not re-examine their ways, the project may turn
out to be a pipe dream.
This is because the Russians
will not support this project, as it is detrimental to their business interests
in Europe. The Russians, through the Wagner contractors, have been carrying out
various mercenary projects in West Africa, and if the crisis is allowed to
escalate, the Niger Republic aspect of the project will be endangered. And
where will that leave Nigeria with all the billions of dollars already expended
on this project? I believe the peace and stability of Africa should be the
focus of African leaders at this moment, and the way to go is good governance
and interregional interactions amongst countries.
If this is attained, the African
Continental Free Trade Area, or ACFTA, will be a piece of cake for all nations
in the region. African countries must promote the indigenous exploitation of
their own resources and avoid the one-sided agreements they have had with
superpower nations. To make this work, they must do away with the begging
syndrome. As long as we go cap in hand, begging the super powers for aid, they
will continue to dictate the way we live. President Tinubu should take heed.
*Ikhioya is a commentator on public issues
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